Bags full of cash were discovered in the home of European Parliament Vice-President Eva Kaili. 🧐
Back in the day in Chicago people talked about “shoebox” of money found hidden in the home of corrupt politicians. For European Parliament Vice President Eva Kaili it was bags and bags of cash.
About €600,000 ($633,300) in cash was recovered & computer equipt & mobile phones were seized, the prosecutor said.
4 people were arrested for questioning,including a former EU lawmaker & assistants working in parliament,& may be brought before investigating judge.@EUparliament
.@NYTimes reported that the Belgian police conducted raids in 16 locations — including private residences across the capital, Brussels — which yielded a suitcase with 600,000 euros in cash ($633,000). This is shaping up to be one of the biggest scandals at the European Parliament
Detained included Kaili; her life partner, Francesco Giorgi, who works as an aide to another European lawmaker; Luca Visentini,recently elected chief of global workers’ union, the International Trade Union Confederation;& Pier Antonio Panzeri,former member of European Parliament.
Francesco Giorgi’s Instagram gives an idea of their luxe lifestyle as his yacht sailed across the Mediterranean w/ stops in Sardinia and Greece. A pic of a private pool in Sardinia elicited a comment from Kaili about “insane beauty”
Kaili’s other recent sponsored events likely to receive further scrutiny. AI, cryptocurrency and blockchain.
European Parliament VP Kaili’s Christmas card message last year was to “Dream Big” — perhaps this year’s message is to find a good lawyer.
European Parliament corruption case: The partner of Eva Kaili, Francesco Giorgi, was also detained by Belgian police after being monitored for several months, is an expert on human rights and—wait for it—is the founder of Fight Impunity organization.
European Parliament corruption case: “The charges against the MEPs have already triggered resignations and the suspension of a parliamentary vote on granting Qatari nationals visa-free travel to the bloc, due next week.”
European Parliament corruption: “Parliamentarians voiced shock at arrests of 4 people—& of related detention of family members of former Italian MEP, who were allegedly offered a holiday worth €100,000 by the Qataris. Campaigners lambasted the parliament’s “culture of impunity”
“Transparency International, an anti-corruption group, said EU institutions needed an independent ethics regulator.” @FT
Will latest EU Parl scandal be a wake up call? Over many decades parliament allowed a culture of impunity to develop,w/ a combination of lax financial rules & controls & complete lack of independent(or indeed any)#ethics oversight,”said its director,former MEP Michel van Hulten”
European Parliament corruption case was front page news & top story of🇮🇹 Corriere Della Sera, right next to pic of Marocco’s win against Portugal. Headline: Money, favours: shock in Europe
EU Parliament Corruption case: I have never seen so much space dedicated to an EU story of corruption in an Italian newspaper—4 full pages. Will this case increase euroscepticism in Italy?
The EU’s chief diplomat, @JosepBorrellF, has said a corruption scandal in the European parliament involving claims that Qatar was seeking to buy influence in the chamber is “very, very worrisome”. @FT
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